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Jack and Jill exchanged glances. A small, identical smiles were on each of their faces. "Took us long enough," Jill grinned.

They had done it. They were the very first of their world to travel into a different realm. It had taken over two years, but after long, meticulous examination and tweaking of the spell, they had done it. They were in a different world.

Jack reached out and took Jill's hand, walking forward. "Wonder what did it that time," he mused. "We didn't change the spell that much."

"It probably had to do with the amount of fire and earth runes we used," Jill said. "I knew we were using too much. I told you it canceled out the effects of the soul runes."

Jack just shook his head. "Nah." Jill opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it, preferring to enjoy their moment of victory. Looking up, they noticed their surroundings for the first time. Lush, green hills surrounded them, but about a quarter of a mile ahead stood an enormous collection of houses and buildings.

"Woah," Jill said. "That's a lot of people."

"Gravity is stronger here, too," Jack noted. He kneeled down, examining the grass and dirt. "Hmm, this soil is interesting..."

"Jack, look at this. Look at how many buildings there are! How could so many people live so close to each other? Is this one huge family or something? Jack?" He was examining a clump of dirt and grass that he had dug out of the ground. Hitting him on the head softly, she said, "Come on. I'm eager to meet the people on this world and I can't have you distracted by every piece of grass we see. Get up." He silently obeyed, and keeping his eyes on the clump of dirt, followed her to the city.

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Jack tossed the piece of soil in between his hands, levitated it, and played around with some forces as they entered the city. "Forces work the same in this world, and the air is similar," he observed. "But the elements, compounds, and different materials are completely different. I'm not sure how to manipulate the individual atoms of these chemicals quite yet..." He drifted off as he stepped onto the cement roads of Barton and turned his attention to the ground again. "Interesting," he said, bending down.

Jill had been whistling since they had started for the city but stopped to bark a harsh "get up" at Jack. "I'm eager to meet the people here, and I can't have you bending down every time we take another step." Jack reluctantly obeyed, finally turning his attention to the stores next to them.

"So many buildings," he noted. Jill laughed and began to skip, singing the words "so many buildings" in a made-up tune. They continued along the path for a few minutes when Jack put a hand on Jill's shoulder to stop her. "Look," he said, pointing. "It's a book store. I think we should see if we can find out more about this world through their literature." Jill shrugged and continued singing. Jack chuckled and lead her to the bookstore.

Their jaws dropped as they entered the store. "Holy s**t," Jill breathed. "There are thousands of them." Jack nodded, dumbstruck. "How the hell do people have enough time to write these many books? How are there this many people? Don't they have anything better to do than write books?" Jack nodded again. Once they had gotten over the shock, though, they immediately set themselves to the task of examining as many books as they could.

They met at the front of the store a few hours later. Jill was empty handed, but Jack had picked up a book titled "Basic Science" that outlined the elements and compounds in this world and their characteristics. Jill approached the shopkeeper with a small smile on her face that said, "I know how to deal with this."

"We need this book now," she demanded, slamming Jack's book onto the counter. She immediately created a burst of fear into the shopkeepers mind. "And we are not going to be paying for it." She gazed at him, malice in her eyes.

Shocked, the shopkeeper stepped back. "Look, l-look, I don't know why you want the book, but I think something is wrong and you probably shouldn't be in here..." he stammered. Jill put more pressure onto his mind, increasing his fear. She leaned forward slowly. "There- there's something wrong. Please, I think you should leave! It- it's not safe here!"

Apparantly that wasn't enough, Jill thought to herself. Determined, she assaulted his mind anew with terror. "Give us the book."

"Miss, I'm sorry, but you must leave. It's not safe here, this is no place for children! It's not safe here!" His back was to the wall now, and he was gripping his shirt in terror. "You're too young, you shouldn't be here!"

Jack and Jill shared a look, utterly confused. Jack mouthed, "let me deal with this," and Jill nodded, releasing her spell. She slowly calmed the shopkeeper with her magic as Jack stepped forward.

"I'm- I'm sorry about that, I don't know what came into me..." said the shopkeeper.

"No worry," said Jack. "Look, I must tell you- we are from different country, we no know what, what money you use, and we want to buy the book... What money you use? Can maybe I see the money you use, maybe we have the money, maybe no..."

"Oh, you mean our currency," the shopkeeper replied, brightening. He took out a coin and showed it to Jack. "This is how much the book costs, one gold piece."

Jack took the coin in his hand and rubbed his fingers over it, memorizing its shape. He put his other hand in his pocket, fingering a coin from his own world, and slowly rearranged it to resemble the shopkeeper's coin. After a few moments, he brought it out and put it onto the table. "We have the money!!!" He declared triumphantly. The shopkeeper smiled and handed them the book.

Once outside, Jill turned to Jack. "My magic worked," she told him, "but he wasn't afraid of us, he was just afraid. It was as if he thought we were weak, more vulnerable to danger than him. What's that about?"

"Maybe children aren't as powerful as adults here?" Jack suggested. Jill just snorted, chuckling at the idea.

"Now that would be interesting," she said. The two continued along the street, Jack looking into the book and Jill thinking about what had just occured.

Wiveri stepped out from the shelter, one hand down behind his back. "I'm here," He replied quitly. The man had backed up against the wall, showing he knew something about fighting, and had a hand on a sword of some kind. Wiveri carefully noted everything about him, sure that this appraising gaze was being returned.

"You could say that I am a traveler, an officer, one from this city. But it would be truer to say that I was a clanner," Wiveri replied, speaking in riddles. "By the way, who are you to be asking me who I am?" Wiveri took a small step forward, and kept his voice at a slightly lofty tone a little louder than the other man.

Elodoras turned away from the man, facing once again towards the east. His head twisted as he looked at him once again, this time speaking over his shoulder. "Well, let me see, you were the one following me. Why would I need to tell you anything, you'd obviously have to know something about me to follow me, afterall, there'd be no point if you didn't have a reason." Elodoras tilted his head back towards the east, then under his breath, murmered "a clanner? He isn't from Death anyway..."

Elodoras smiled slightly at the sound of screams. "Oh my, please tell me that's who I hope it is. I've been looking forward to some conflict, and DeMarkus probably won't mind some help if that 'Clanner' is away to get him. The more the merrier I always say." He laughed then ran towards the fountain, which was now just a pile of rubble, soaking the streets with the water that was in it only a little while ago.

He stopped at the site of the 'Clanner' who had ran off, but he was now heading towards an Alley. Elodoras had no other option but to follow after him, with a Kitana drawn.